Albert Crossman

Albert Crossman is Rowoon's crown prince, a quarter dark elf, and Cale Henituse's principal political partner. His polished public image conceals both his ancestry and a calculating strategist willing to bargain ruthlessly for the kingdom's survival.

Biography

A prince behind a disguise

Albert enters Cale's plans before the plaza attack, using royal information and resources while concealing his own motives. After Cale shields the crowd, Albert controls the political aftermath and recognizes that the supposed delinquent is far more capable than he pretends. Their first bargains establish a partnership in which each tries to gain the advantage without endangering Rowoon. (Chapters 8–17)

His cure of Taylor Sten shows the pattern. Albert uses a royal resource to restore a discarded heir, but ties that aid to a future marquessate aligned with the crown. With Cale, the same method becomes recurring exchange: authority and money flow toward operations that produce intelligence, allies, or security Rowoon cannot obtain openly. (Chapters 8–10, 14–17)

The dark-elven city

Albert's hidden ancestry becomes explicit when Cale reaches the underground dark-elven city. Tasha, his maternal aunt, belongs to the Dark Elf race, making Albert one-quarter dark elf. A magical disguise presents him publicly with blond hair and blue eyes, while his true form has brown hair, brown eyes, and darker skin. The secret is politically dangerous, so trust around it is tightly controlled. (Chapters 19–25)

The disguise is a survival tool within prejudiced succession politics, not a demonstrated combat transformation. It also explains why Albert's support for dark elves must pass through agents and concealed facilities. Cale's access to the secret enlarges the partnership from convenience to mutual political risk. (Chapters 21–22)

Building an alliance

Albert coordinates with Cale as evidence of Mogor's dead mana crimes emerges. He leads a secret pact among four realms and seals its seriousness through a Vow of Death. During the imperial visit, he performs the gracious crown prince while reading Adin's cruelty and extracting political concessions, allowing Cale's covert operation to proceed beneath formal diplomacy. (Chapters 29–36)

The ideal-prince performance is operational cover. Controlled etiquette keeps Adin focused on court interaction while Cale's people investigate elsewhere, and the Vow of Death lets mutually suspicious rulers share plans without trusting every court around them. (Chapters 31, 34–36)

War in the north

As the northern alliance attacks, Albert supplies intelligence, authority, and national coordination. He appoints Cale commander in the northeast and supports plans that depend on nobles, navy, mages, and hidden allies acting as one force. Their private exchanges remain sarcastic, but Albert increasingly entrusts Cale with information central to the throne. (Chapters 40–52)

Albert's strength is orchestration rather than frontline destruction. A royal appointment gives Cale authority over conventional forces; intelligence and communication connect separate fronts; pressure on nobles converts local support into national policy. Each tool depends on legitimacy and accurate reports, so he continually updates plans rather than issuing a single perfect order. (Chapters 42–52)

Succession and Mogor

Albert continues managing the northern front while preparing Rowoon's response to the Mogor Empire. Cale finally reveals Raon's existence to him, a sign that their mutual trust has passed beyond temporary convenience. Albert convenes Rowoon's nobles, looks toward succeeding the throne, and prepares to exploit the Empire's crimes without losing sight of the citizens a larger war would endanger. (Chapters 53–56)

Learning about Raon gives Albert access to a strategic secret that could destabilize the kingdom if mishandled. His latest position is therefore sovereign-in-waiting: capable of using extraordinary allies, but responsible for preventing their existence and Mogor's crimes from turning civilians into expendable pieces. (Chapters 55–56)

Appearance and personality

Albert's public appearance is that of a handsome blond, blue-eyed prince. Without the disguise, he has brown hair, brown eyes, and the darker complexion inherited through his dark-elven mother. He is eloquent, regal, intelligent, and adept at turning charm into pressure. In private he is sarcastic and blunt with Cale. His pragmatism can appear ruthless, but it is tied to a consistent priority: strengthening Rowoon and limiting harm to its people. (Chapters 8–10, 21–22, 31, 35–36, 42–56)

Abilities and powers

Political strategy and resource orchestration

Albert combines intelligence, royal finance, appointments, noble leverage, and timing. He rarely solves a crisis with one asset: he gives a capable subordinate legal authority, funds the operation, supplies reports, and pressures institutions to support the result. This makes dispersed allies function as a national strategy. (Chapters 8–17, 40–56)

The method depends on incomplete information and political legitimacy. Albert cannot openly deploy every dark-elf ally or force every noble without consequences, and hostile courts actively conceal their own plans. His skill lies in building contingencies and purchasing options before certainty exists. (Chapters 28–36, 42–52)

Public performance, diplomacy, and alliance building

Albert maintains a polished ideal-prince persona through controlled expression, etiquette, and layered speech. Under hostile observation, courtesy can hide a threat or keep attention away from a covert team. In private, blunt sarcasm with Cale removes that performance without removing strategic rivalry. (Chapters 10, 31, 34–36)

For deeper secrecy he uses institutional tools such as the Vow of Death. Binding rulers does not create affection; it creates a safe channel in which conflicting realms can exchange plans. Albert then negotiates common action while leaving each sovereign enough independence to participate. (Chapters 29–31)

Dark-elf heritage and magical disguise

Albert is one-quarter dark elf, and a magical disguise changes the inherited features visible to the public. The effect protects his claim in a society where ancestry could be weaponized and lets him maintain covert links to Tasha and the City of Death. (Chapters 19, 21–22)

Within scope, the heritage grants no demonstrated combat technique. Its principal effects are identity, vulnerability, and access to allies the crown cannot publicly acknowledge. Every person admitted to the secret increases both Albert's strategic reach and exposure risk. (Chapters 21–22, 55)

Relationships

• Cale Henituse: Albert and Cale are strategic equals who trade insults, resources, and secrets. Their partnership becomes one of the main engines of Rowoon's wartime policy.
• Tasha: Tasha is Albert's maternal aunt and a vital bridge between the crown prince and the dark-elven community.
• Rosalyn: As Brek's former princess and a powerful mage, Rosalyn is both a fellow royal strategist and a crucial member of the inter-kingdom alliance.
• Mary: Mary's existence and abilities connect Albert's royal position to the persecuted dark elves whose safety he must protect in secret.

Items

• Albert's Golden Plaques — royal tokens issued to Cale that provide exceptional authority, access, and financial backing for operations conducted in the crown's interest.